Pics That Lie

What picture you chose and why? I chose to manipulate a photo of a baby into a demon-esque thing.                 

Where did the picture originate?  I used multiple pictures, all of which originated from stockphoto websites.              

How was it manipulated?   I put the pictures together to put an X on the kid's forehead, colored him green and made the eyes glow. I also added horns and fangs.                    

Why was it manipulated?   To convince the world that a demon baby had been born, similar to the Fairy manipulation of 1917, done by Cottingley.                       

Was the manipulation harmful?  Mine wasn't, but in 1917, when Cottingley did his primitive version, it caused a lot of panic.                   

Why or why not? Due to the widespread awareness if photoshop, no one would believe that the photo was real.

How did it relate to the article you researched?  The Cottingley fairies were a hoax done in 1917 with cardboard cutouts of "fairies". I wanted to show how easy this sort of hoax has become because of photoshop, and how now people won't believe "photo proof" because of the availibility and ease of manipulating photos.

Larry Hechler

Learning about the computer hardware was really cool! Next time I buy a computer, i will actually have something intelligent to ask!The inside of a computer looks so complicated, but once you have labels for things, its not so bad!

Chris Nolan

Mr.Nolan's presentation contained a wealth of useful information, but my favorite thing was ehn he told the class about the use of advanced search on Google. I usually ignore advanced search because I think it over-filters my search results, but Mr. Nolan showed me that in certain situations it's useful in helping find obscure websites. I love Google as a search engine, but he also introduced the class to some of the other awesome search tools out there. I also really liked when he explained the uses of symbols when searching. I will definitely be using this information in the future!

Absolute powerpoint corrupts absolutely...(sorry, couldn't help it...)

Sometimes, I adore Powerpoint, and sometimes, I really wish I could delete it off of the world's database and pretend it never happened. Usually, the desperate need to delete all Powerpoint programs comes after I have watched a seizure-inducing, entirely-too-long powerpoint filled with spotty graphics and huge blocks of text. Transitions in Powerpoint are a tricksy thing, because sometimes they are smooth and neat, adding a lot to the presentation, but sometimes they are little more than flashy nothings that are more akin to a bad movie than a good powerpoint. AND THEN there are the annoying sounds. Those clip-art-esque sounds that make everyone in the room jump and jolt to attention when you switch form one text filled slide to the next.

A perfect example

 But my absolute LEAST favorite thing about Powerpoint? Powerpoint has the ability to turn a 5 minute presentation into a 10 minute bore-fest, as the presenter reads aloud every last bullet point that we are perfectly capable of reading to ourselves.Data that should take up one slide suddenly takes up four as the audience is treated to a stuttering transition from one akwardly placed bit of information to the next. You say that maybe it is the presenter's fault? Powerpoint is a program designed with no easy means of transitioning between blocks of information. the most eloquent people I know are transformed into stuttering repetitive messes by this awful program. But Powerpoint does have some reedeming qualities.(somewhere...I'm sure...anywhere?) It makes for wonderful presentations of charts, and seamless integration of photos into textual analysis. Leave the bullet points, annoying sounds, and unneccesary transitions at home, and powerpoint ALMOST becomes a useful tool.

CLT Visit

The CLT center is amazing, and filled with all kinds of useful stuff. The Studios are honestly the most amazing part. I can't believe I didn't even know this place was there! :) The easy access to scanners, the awesome staff, music editing software?!? The CLT center has stuff I didn't even know I cared about until I got easy access to it! Plus, with the library being open crazy hours, I could Photoshop for a ridiculously long time!

YAY PICNIK!

I chose the Lebanese photo image (no.2) because I feel that this photo manipulation is an example of the commonplace exaggeration of destruction in the media. The photo was taken by a Lebanese photographer named Adnan Hajj, and originally only showed one plume of smoke above the Lebanese capital, but Hajj manipulated it to show more, and exagerate the destruction. He maintains that he was attempting to remove dust, and that it was a mistake, but other photos of his have also been shown to be doctored. This photo manipulation was certaintly harmful because it shows that photos can no longer be trusted, and influences the public's empathy and perception towards events. Photos of destruction are powerful tools over people's emotions, but how can we remain empathetic when we aren't even sure what we are looking at is real?

Excel

I have learned so much about Excel! I was never really exposed to it before this class, but now I feel like I know more about it and can use it in a useful way. However, I do feel like excel is an incredibly specific program, in that it can really only be used for certain things like tracking data, which are not so exciting. I really enjoy the sum function and the cool formulaic stuff you can do with it though!

Copyright Information

 Well, did I ever pick the day to be absent!
             While I missed the lecture on copyright laws, I have learned something interesting about copyrights by following the links on the class web-page. I was very interested to learn about the "Fair-use laws", as I had actually never heard of them before, and it's always good to know that the U.S government isn't going to come knocking on your door when you write a paper. (though your English teacher might). I also appreciated that copyright infringements are not a felony until monetary gain is involved. Using someone else's ideas/work for monetary gain seems appalling to me, and so the copyright and anti-piracy laws make much more sense to me when money is involved instead of just personal use. I can see the media industry's side of things, I mean, it is their work and they should get profit from it, otherwise what point is there in making it? However, the socialist in me sees no issue with adapting existing material for personal use. The second that use becomes for monetary gain, the use becomes much less innocent and more like looting. Yuck. Anyway, I enjoyed learning about copyright.

Copyright Information by Melody McLaughlin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at melodymclaughlin.blogspot.com.

Network Diagram

This is my network diagram for how Trinity students can access the internet and LAN network. I LOVED going on the tour of the Halsell server room, because I'm a nerd like that, and I have always been curious as to how servers and internet access works on a campus as large as this. I can't get over how much work it takes to maintain a system, that to me anyway, seems effortless to use. This diagram was a little bit more difficult for me because it was SO much information to fit on such a small page, but I think it turned out pretty well, all things considered. I used paint, text boxes, clip art, piknic, and google images(stock photos) to complete my diagram. :) Hope it looks okay!

MYSTERYPIX

This is a picture of a place we see evry day, It serves as an iconic image of Trinity, and its modern design shines. I edited the photo by cropping it, adding flowers, and running through color filters, as well as resizing it. Can you guess where it is?

Joe Hatch!

I really enjoyed the presentation made by Mr. Hatch. i learned something new, in that i didn't know about some of the fundamental pathway differences between Macs and PCs. I also didn't know what Trojans were, so it was nice to finally find out. :) Honestly, when I got on my computer after class, the first thing I did was Reset Safari. :) So Thanks! Mr. HAtch, for stopping by, and for being there to keep us from throwing our very expen$ive computers out the window.

Smile! It's Just not that bad! (The Hello! My name is... post)

   Hi! My name is Melody, and I'm from Hobbs, NM, which is in the middle of the desert. I have relatively little computer experience, but I can usually figure things out pretty quickly, and I know the basics. I have a nuclear family of five: my mom, dad, older brother, me and my grandmother (who lives with us six months out of the year). I have 3 dogs and a cat as well. I love to hang out with friends, have discussions about anything, waste time on Facebook, dye my hair, dress up in crazy costumes, go to the grocery store, cook (Indian food is the bomb!), read, and do art. Pretty much, if you name it, I've either done it, or want to do it. I don't watch a crazy amount of TV, and I can't seem to get into video games too much, but I am a huge movie fan, and I love music.
Secret Truth: I have a secret love affair with Star Trek and Yo Gabba Gabba. (and pretty much all British TV)


You can e-mail me at mmclaug3@trinity.edu ,and please do!